Breaking the Speed Record: 81 MPH on a Bike

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Breaking the Speed Record: 81 MPH on a Bike

View Slideshow Long winters make cyclists do crazy things. Sometime in early January, I decided to take a shot at a world record riding a streamlined human powered vehicle – a recumbent bicycle with a carbon fiber shell.

I'll be aiming for the flying 200-meter world record, which is currently held by Canadian rider Sam Whittingham with a speed of 81 mph flat. That's right, 81 mph on a bike, on flat ground.

I'll be riding the Varna Orpheus, a stable mate of Whittingham's Varna Diablo that went 81 mph in Battle Mountain, Nevada, in 2001. Georgi Georgiev of Vancouver, British Columbia, built the Orpheus in 1996. It's a bit longer and wider than the Diablo, which isn't good from an aerodynamic standpoint, but I'd never fit in anything smaller anyway.

The old Orpheus has had a long and storied history. It's a monocoque carbon fiber and Kevlar chassis design. With a fresh coat of paint, it's a very slick machine.

But once the top is removed, it looks more like a World War I biplane cockpit. The subframe is made of chromoly steel and features adjustable steering geometry.

As world class streamliners go, the Orpheus is a fairly conventional design. Some wackier designs rely on camera navigation or even require the rider to travel down the course facing backwards. Many newer streamliners also have computer designed laminar flow shapes. Oddly, the Varna design is still the most successful in the world and it was not drawn with the aid of a computer – it came straight from Georgiev's artistic brain.

The Orpheus only has five forward gears and all of them are huge. The lowest gear is about equal to the upper-middle gear on an average road bike. Combined with a steering range of about 4 inches, starting is by far the most difficult part of the job. Everyone who rides a streamliner has the occasional tip over and a helper is required to hold the bike steady until you're up to jogging pace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FAzcEPMi14

The Orpheus really comes into its own at about 30 to 40 miles per hour. At those speeds you can finally start spinning at a decent cadence and the bike's handling really comes into its own.

When it speeds up, its too excited to be scared, but once I get over the initial euphoria of riding this bike, I may change my tune – it's fast.

The Orpheus cockpit is a very noisy place and there are a lot of sharp pointy things sticking out to make you nervous. But these bikes are built to withstand high-speed crashes. Several riders have crashed at 60 to 70 miles an hour and walked away without a scratch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUgXtZFdUcs

I've been working overtime to get into shape for the record attempt, but it will take some time to make myself into a Whittingham quality sprinter. Whittingham is a very high-level amateur track racer and has been a member of the Canadian National Team. I'm just a former semi-professional mountain bike racer that is half a decade removed from competition.

I'm probably at least a year away from even dreaming about 80-plus-mph speeds. Luckily the low altitude record is a much more reasonable 62.3 mph. That mark is also held by Whittingham. This is what I'll be aiming for.

I've hired Dave Grigsby of Everybody's Bike Coach to whip me into shape. As a freelance writer, my schedule is pretty open and I'm taking advantage of it. I've spent many lonely hours on my stationary trainer with nothing but an iPod and dreams of going fast. Grigsby's workouts are planned very scientifically and quite regimented, but they are not as physically demanding as I was expecting.

At the end of every day I upload data such as wattage, heart rate, hours of sleep and any pain I'm having to a website and Dave adjusts my workouts accordingly. I've never met him in person but I feel I'm getting pro-level attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPzFavvTqHk

The Varna and I will be taking our first shot with 19 other human-powered vehicles over Easter weekend in Casa Grande, Arizona, at Nissan Motor's 5.6-mile test track. Nissan uses the track to test prototypes and concept cars. We're all sworn to secrecy in case we see something we shouldn't.

Riders will be making attempts at the hour record and the flying 200 meter. With several world-class bikes and riders, several records are sure to fall.

The next major opportunity for a record will be in October on Highway 305 in Battle Mountain. October seems like a long time to wait but that's when the winds and temperatures are the most favorable.